UFO ROUNDUP
 Volume 2, Number 43
 November 9, 1997
 
 TWO NATO JETS PURSUE
 UFO OVER FRANCE
 
      Two NATO jet interceptors, described as "the
 F-16 type," chased a UFO over France's Eure-et-
 Loire department at 4 p.m. on Monday, October 
 27, 1997.
      Eyewitness Marie Franck reported, "I was at my
 country home in Sainville, a village 40 kilometers
 (24 miles) east of Chartres.  I was in the garden when
 I heard a progressive rumbling originating from the
 north, behind the house.  It was then that I saw, to
 the west of the village, at 45 degrees above the
 horizon and about 2,000 meters (6,600 feet or just
 over a mile--J.T.) away a flying tube without wings
 but with fire coming out of the stern, which moved in
 horizontal flight from the north-northeast to the
 south-southwest."
      Mme. Franck watched the UFO for "five seconds"
 before it disappeared "behind a neighboring rooftop."
      "Its speed was around 1,400 kilometers per hour,"
 she reported. "I was astonished at not hearing a sonic
 boom, and I thought I might have been mistaken in
 my calculations."  She estimated that the UFO traveled
 two kilometers during the five seconds.
      "At the same time, I got the idea that it might be
 a missile (perhaps nuclear?) and that it was going to
 explode in the distance," she added.  "Sudden terror!
 My sole reflex was to hurl myself to the ground, all
 the while counting the seconds to estimate the distance
 from the object."
      "I was at 50 seconds when a new rumbling sound
 made its approach, but it was coming from the southeast.
 I then observed passing from south to north a military
 plane of the F-16 type, which made a very tight turn
 north of the village (Sainville) in order to get on the
 north-northeasterly trajectory of the object."
      A few seconds later, "a new rumbling" was heard,
 and a second F-16 appeared, flying in the same
 direction as the first.  Mme. Franck gathered her
 children from the pavilion very quickly and brought
 them indoors to safety.
      Sainville is located on L'Autoroute A.10-E.05,
 the main highway between Paris and Orleans.  The
 Armee de l'Air, France's air force, has a base at
 Chateaudrun, 55 kilometers (33 miles) south of
 Sainville.  (Merci beaucoup a Marie Franck et
 Banque OVNI pour ces nouvelles.)
 
 IRISH UFOLOGISTS QUESTION
 BOYLE SAUCER CRASH
 EYEWITNESSES
 
      Researchers from IUFOPRA, a UFO study group
 in Eire, are busily interviewing witnesses to a saucer
 crash in the Curlieu Mountains north of Boyle,
 County Roscommon, that reportedly took place
 in May 1996.
      According to Irish ufologist Rory Thornton, the
 saucer crashlanded on a mountain just north of
 Boyle, slicing off a few treetops and touching down
 in the lake.  The saucer, alleged to be from "the
 planet Sunas," contained several occupants who were
 allegedly taken into custody by a retrieval team.
      Dave Walsh, publisher of the online newsletter
 Nua Blather, wrote, "New information has recently
 come to light that leads us to believe that despite
 earlier reports the incident is a hoax, that something
 did happen in the Curlieu Mountains."
      "The site of the alleged crash has been sealed
 off for months now, and even the locals have been
 denied access."
      Six months after the alleged crash, a new
 asphalt road was constructed, leading to the site,
 and "two (Quonset) huts were erected," IUFOPRA
 reported, "and no one was prepared to give any
 explanation as to why they were there.  One of the
 huts is located close to the crash site with a lot
 of antennae protruding from it."
      "One thing is clear...the Irish and foreign
 military are involved in some type of covert operations,"
 IUFOPRA was quoted by Walsh.  "A lot of helicopters
 have been observed flying around the area, and,
 according to one witness, he was woken by the sound
 of 'rescue' helicopters, which hovered very close to
 the windows of his house, causing them to rattle."
 (Many thanks to Dave Walsh for this news story.)
 
 UFOs SIGHTED IN FLORIDA
 
      On Tuesday, October 14, 1997, at 5:10 p.m., Nancy
 Dunning had stopped her car at a traffic light in
 Palmetto, Florida (population 8,637) "when I saw an
 egg-shaped object moving northwest at a steady rate
 of speed.  It was silvery-white in color.  I watched as
 it went into a cloud and just disappeared.  It never came
 out on the other side of the cloud.  I know it wasn't an
 airplane because I know a lot about airplanes.  I can
 identify almost any plane there is."  (See MUFON
 Skywatch Investigations #44.  Many thanks to George A.
 Filer of MUFON for forwarding this story.)
      On Saturday, November 1, 1997, at 1:50 a.m., Tige
 McMullen, age 15, was looking out the window of his
 home in Pensacola, Florida (population 57,619).  "Then
 I looked up into the sky, and I saw a UFO.  It was
 moving fast, left to right, then at one point disappeared,
 then coming back.  It made no noise."
      Tige immediately phoned the Pensacola/Gulf Breeze
 UFO Hotline.  Afterward, he "got my Mom's camera and
 took two pictures of it.  I hope they come out."
      "It was like lightning in the sky.  But there was no
 thunder, and lightning doesn't stay that long.  There was
 mostly clear sky that night.  I looked to try to find a
 video camera, but I could not.  Then I looked out the
 window and it had gone.  It had disappeared."  (USENET
 report)
 
 LUMINOUS UFOs REPORTED
 ON ITALY'S ADRIATIC COAST
 
      Luminous UFOs were seen at four locations around
 the city of Ancona, on Italy's Adriatic Sea coastline
 last week.
      On Monday, November 3, 1997, at 5 p.m., "a luminous
 object was observed from diverse locations in the province
 of Ancona.  In the area around Polverigi, two hunters saw
 a fusiform object of grey color pass by quickly and silently
 over their heads."
      "At the same hour, ten people on a promenade
 (boardwalk--J.T.) in Posatora observed for several seconds
 a luminous green ball with a yellow tail in the sky."  (See
 the Italian newspaper Corriere Adriatico for November 4,
 1997.)
      The same luminous green UFO was also seen in
 Senigallia and Porto Recanati, two seaside towns close
 to Ancona.  The area is 224 kilometers (140 miles)
 northeast of Rome.  (See Corriere Adriatico for
 November 5, 1997.  Grazie a Edoardo Russo di CISU
 per questo rapporto.)
 
 TWO GIRLS SPOT A UFO IN
 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
 
      On Friday, October 17, 1997, at 8:30 p.m.,
 Danielle F. and her cousin, Tessa P., were waiting
 in a car for Tessa's father in their hometown of
 Boswell, Pennsylvania (population 1,480).  Boswell
 is located on Route 601 about 70 miles (112
 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh.
      "Tessa said, 'What's that?'" Danielle reported.
 "I looked up and said it might be an airplane.  We saw
 a big blurry white light.  We went inside and got the
 binoculars to take a better look."
      The UFO hovered at about 45 degrees above the
 horizon, Danielle reported, "The center of the object
 was white, and on the ends were two yellow lights.
 On the top of the object was one red light.  The
 object was moving very fast while it was descending
 toward the (nearby) mountain.  Tessa and I both
 agree that we never saw a plane move so fast.  We
 don't know what it was, but we wondered if it could
 be a UFO."  (Email Interview)
 
 MYSTERIOUS LIGHT FLASH
 PUZZLES OKLAHOMA DEPUTY
 
      An Oklahoma sheriff's deputy had a Halloween
 suprise when he spotted a mysterious flash of light
 on the outskirts of Reydon.
      On October 31, 1997, at approximately 8:23 p.m.,
 a sheriff's deputy saw a "flash of light" northeast of
 Reydon, 120 miles (192 kilometers) west of
 Oklahoma City.
      According to Jim Hickman of Skywatch, the
 deputy's radio report was monitored, and he spoke
 of a "large flash of light in the sky."  A partial
 transcript follows:
      Dispatch: "Was it lightning?"
      Deputy: "I don't see any clouds in the sky."
      Deputy: "It was one large flash to my northeast,
                   and it wasn't lightning."
      In recent months, similar "light flashes" have been
 reported in Los Alamos, New Mexico and Beaver Bay,
 Minnesota.  (See MUFON Skywatch Investigations #44.
 Many thanks to George A. Filer of MUFON for this
 report.)
 
 UFO WITH OCTAGONAL LIGHTS
 SEEN BY VIRGINIA COUPLE
 
      On Saturday, November 1, 1997, at 11:25 p.m.,
 Mike S. was driving with his girlfriend in Earlysville,
 located eight miles (12 kilometers) north of
 Charlottesville, Virginia (population 40,341), "and it
 was a very dark night," he reported, "I took my eyes
 off the road and looked in the direction she was pointing.
 There was definitely something in the sky about 15 to
 25 feet above the tree line."
      "I saw lights in the sky that were arranged in rings,"
 Mike reported, "The lights were circular or almost
 octagonal, and they were dull and white.  They were
 not like light bulbs or headlights.  The lights outlined a
 disk-shaped object.  I could tell that it was slowly
 spinning in a clockwise motion, and it repeatedly
 crossed over the road.  It followed the road in front of
 me for about a mile to a mile and a half.  I called my
 parents from my car phone and told them what I saw."
      After Mike got home, he and his father returned
 to that stretch of road outside Earlysville.  But the saucer
 was gone.  When both men returned home at 11:50 p.m.,
 Mike's mother telephoned the local police.  They learned
 that an officer on patrol had reportedly seen "the exact
 same thing."  (Many thanks to Tim Hagemeister of
 NACOMM for this report.)
 
 MYSTERY EXPLOSION ROCKS
 TOWN IN QUEBEC
 
      On Friday, October 31, 1997, "a mysterious explosion,
 coming from either the ground or the sky, rocked the whole
 town" of La Mauricie, Quebec, Canada.  An investigation
 by the provincial police produced no answers.
      According to Jean Casault of the Centre de Etude et
 d'Information sur les Phenomenes Inexplique (CEIPI),
 residents of La Mauricie "have seen different 'light shows'
 in the sky" for the past forty days.
      "A video has been shot which reveals a big luminous
 object that went up in the sky and transformed itself into
 a triangular-shaped object," Casault reported.  "In the
 process of doing so, it was on a collision course with
 another object and made a drop very quickly, which was
 absolutely unusual at that speed."  (Email Interview)
 
 UFO HOVERS OVER TOWN IN
 WESTERN NEWFOUNDLAND
 
      On Monday, November 3, 1997, at 11:11 p.m., Don
 Jay Frederico reported a UFO sighting "near the airport
 runway in Stephenville, Newfoundland," Canada
 (population 10,284).  The town is located along Highway
 460 on St. George's Bay on Newfoundland's western
 shore. 
      "I saw the strange craft over the ocean across from
 the runway," Frederico reported.  "It stayed there for
 about two or three minutes and then left without a sound.
 As it was leaving, it looked like a ball of red fire.  Then
 it divided into two different (balls of gas) and dropped."
 (See MUFON Skywatch Investigations #44.  Many thanks
 to Don Jay Frederico, ISUR and George A. Filer for
 this story.)
 
 LARGE UFO SIGHTED OVER
 THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO
 
      On October 5, 1997, a resident of Thunder Bay,
 Ontario (population 113,946) "was driving down (the)
 Fort William (section of the city--J.T.) road when I
 saw a large object in the sky, which appeared to be
 near the Ontario Tax Building.  At first I thought it was
 a plane, but it quickly dived from the sky to a low
 altitude (much faster than a plane).  I looked at it more
 carefully, although it was lower on the horizon."
     "It was shaped like an elliptical ball, but it was white
 like a cloud.  I thought maybe it was a cloud, but then
 it moved across the sky in such an unnatural manner
 it couldn't have been.  It was heading across Lake
 Superior, so I drove to the marina to see if I could see it.
 It must have been traveling at a very high speed."
      Thunder Bay is the largest city in western Ontario
 province, Canada, located on the north shore of Lake
 Superior approximately 868 miles (1,388 kilometers)
 northwest of Toronto.  (Many thanks to Steve Wilson Sr.
 for this report.)
 
 NASA ENDS PATHFINDER'S
 MISSION TO MARS
 
      NASA officially halted daily communication with
 the spacecraft Pathfinder and its robot rover,
 Sojourner, on Tuesday, November 4, 1997.
      "The end of the $266 million mission comes
 four months after Pathfinder bounced to a thrilling
 Independence Day landing in the rocky Ares Vallis
 region and rolled out Sojourner, the first robot ever
 to set wheels on another planet."
      "But both spacecraft have been silent since
 Oct. 7, when controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion
 Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. last locked onto a
 beacon from the lander's backup transmitter.  It
 has been longer than that, since Sept. 27, that
 any data has been sent home from the Martian
 surface through Pathfinder's main transmitter."
      "Managers now have no choice but to conclude
 that the lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial
 Station, has succumbed to the onset of the
 Martian winter.  During this time, temperatures
 plunge to minus 50 degrees and more dust storms
 shroud the planet."
      "'We've been talking about having a wake,'
 mission manager Richard Cook says, 'But in one
 sense we really ought to celebrate, not mourn.
 Pathfinder has been much more of a success than
 we ever envisioned.'"
      Pathfinder's data "'will help provide a scientific
 basis for future Mars missions...for years to come,' 
 says Wesley Huntress, NASA space science chief."
 (See USA Today for November 4, 1997, page A-3)
 (Editor's Comment:  Would it be rude to point out that
 UFO ROUNDUP reported Pathfinder's first "difficulty"
 with uplink communications back on August 16?  Or
 that the temperature reading of -58 degrees Fahrenheit
 was recorded on October 7, over a month ago?  Be
 that as it may, it is now official--there has not been a
 successful mission to Mars since Viking II back in
 September 1976.)
 
 TWO MAJOR SOLAR FLARES
 ERUPT DURING THE SAME WEEK
 
      A major solar flare erupted on Sol (our sun--J.T.) on
 Tuesday, November 4, 1997, sending a hot stream of
 X-rays hurtling into space.  The disturbance took place
 in the sun's southwest quadrant, which fortunately was
 not facing Earth at the time.
      A second solar flare erupted on Thursday, November
 6, 1997 at 7:55 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST).
 According to Ernie Hildner, director of the National
 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA)
 Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colorado, "The
 eruption produced five times more X-rays than" Tuesday's
 event, adding, "We're no longer looking down the barrel
 of the cannon, so I expect the ejection to miss the Earth,
 going off sideways."
      The second flare also occurred in Sol's southwestern
 quadrant, in a direction well away from Earth.  The solar
 flares are expected to cause an increase in the Aurora
 Borealis and Aurora Australis at our planet's poles, as
 the high-energy streams affect Earth's magnetosphere.
 (Editor's Comment:  If Earth ever wanders into the path
 of one of those solar X-ray blasts, we'll be changing
 the planet's name to Toast.)
 
 from the UFO Files...
 
 1972: UFO HOVERS OVER A
           RANCH IN UTAH
 
      "At first Lennis Gines didn't think much of the
 blue and yellow lights in the field behind her
 rural Summit County (Utah) home."
      "It was a little too early--about 4:30 a.m.--
 for teenage visitors.  And the silent, rotating lights
 weren't anywhere near the narrow country lane that
 meandered past the family's two story home and
 on to the Provo River."
      "At that instant, on a pitch-black moonless morn
 in the fall of 1972, Lennis Gines knew what it was like
 to see a UFO."
      "'If it hadn't gone up without a sound, I may have
 convinced myself in my mind that it was just kids
 driving around.  But I know what I saw.'"
      "Gines was soon joined by her teenage son Sam,
 who was ready to round up the cows for milking.
 Together they waited and watched in the dark for 45
 minutes as the blue and yellow lights, some 150
 yards to the east, cascaded across the river bottoms."
      "Eventually Gines's 16-year-old decided he'd
 waited long enough...Sam got no help from the family's
 otherwise loyal cattle dog, who whimpered and ran
 inside to hide."
      "'My boy gets in the truck and goes over, and he
 said he could see a doorway, windows and shadows
 going in and out,' Gines recalled this week, nearly
 25 years after the event.  'It was like someone was
 going in and out on the ground.'"
      "'The cows were bunched together, he said, and
 he had a hard time getting them out (of the field)
 without the dog, but they did come down the road
 and into the corral.  The cows were nervous and
 didn't give the milk they usually gave.'"
      "Gines, still frightened, helped her younger son,
 Will, get dressed, then hustled to the barn to bring
 Sam back to the house.  But when she emerged
 from the barn--the lights were gone--all except the
 distant glimmer of daylight."  (See the Desert News
 of Salt Lake City, Utah for July 6, 1997, "Close
 Encounters in Utah" by Zack Van Eyck.  Many 
 thanks to Lou Farrish of UFO Newsclipping Service
 for forwarding this story.)
 
 FUN UFO WEBSITES:
 
      The Alberta UFO Study Group has a new website.
 AUFOSG began back in 1990 and was mentioned in
 Timothy Good's ALIEN UPDATE and Juergen Koenig's
 SPURREN IM KORN.  Right now they're compiling
 UFO reports taken by the Royal Canadian Mounted
 Police (RCMP).  Drop in at http://www.geocities.com/
 Area51/Lair/3465
      UFOs Online was updated last week by Anthony
 Chippendale.  See what new features Tony's added by
 checking in at this URL: http://chipp.clara.net
      Here's a new site devoted to that mysterious face
 on Mars.  Check it out at http://www.adam.com/
 cydonia/
      Or fly into Tianca's UFO Spaceport.  You'll find
 this great site at http://spaceport.ufo.net
      Gerard Poley remarks, "The alien's aren't coming--
 they've arrived!"  See for yourself at his website, at
 http://www.PortlandWebSmith.com/spiritist/
      Don't forget our parent site, UFOINFO, with tons
 of great news items, features, photos and downloads.
 Check it out at http://www.digiserve.com/ufoinfo/
      If it's back issues of UFO ROUNDUP you're
 looking for, we have plenty at our site.  Go to
 http://www.digiserve.com/ufoinfo/roundup/
 
      That's it for this week.  The USA's Veterans Day is
 Tuesday, November 11, and UFO ROUNDUP wishes
 to send its greetings--and thanks--to the millions of
 American men and women who have worn the uniform
 in the defense of their nation.  Thank you for a job
 well done, people.
 
      We'll be back next weekend with more saucer
 news from "the paper that goes home--UFO ROUNDUP."
 See you then!
 
 UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 1997 by Masinaigan 
 Productions, all rights reserved.  Readers may post any
 news item from UFO ROUNDUP on their websites or
 in newsgroups provided that they credit the newsletter
 and its editor by name and list the date of issue in which
 the news item first appeared.